With characters from Ruskin Bond’s books popping out from every corner and a cave with robbers becoming the ideal spot to bask in the sun, Dehradun makes for a fun holiday.

Robber's caveWords & Photographs: Ambica Gulati

Suddenly the red slipper came off and the fast flow of water was carrying it out of the narrow passage. Clinging on to the wet limestone rock, a DSLR slung around my neck, the phone in one hand, the pebbles beneath my feet, standing in ankle-deep water, I wasn’t exactly in a position to run after it. Thankfully, another wader heard my frantic call and caught the slipper. This was Robber’s Cave, a natural wonder in Dehradun. Better known as Guchhupani by the locals, this is a natural cave with the river flowing through it.

Almost 600 metres long, the slightly dark and wide entrance doesn’t actually prepare one for the pulsating walk against the current. The adventure begins here -you slowly wade through the high rock passage, with just a trickle of sunlight streaming in, dry leaves keep falling into the water, which is surprisingly clean. And this leads to the small waterfall from where the river drops, where you look up to a bright sky.

I could have been in a Famous Five adventure series. I rotated my head in all directions, until a small girl wading with me said, “What if we were here at night?” Sinister, the word flashed in my head. Guchhu literally means ‘water in a cup’, perhaps this was just a cup for the mighty Himalayas, but for me it was pure magic.

Read the full article here

https://www.indiatoday.in/travel/story/dehradun-travel-attractions-stories-ruskin-bond-lifetr-1104301-2017-12-10

Where to stay: Seyfert Sarovar Hotel. To read the review, click here https://lbb.in/delhi/posts/plan-a-stay-at-seyfert-8ddc73/